2014_1112_Ethics Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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to be involved with a nephew's contract scheme, not to have to vote against an employer and thereby jeopardize one's job, and to reject a law partner's request to help out a client. It takes just one decision that appears self-serving to lose one's position or the respect of the coininunity necessary to push for the policies an official thinks are important. The requirement to withdraw when an official is stuck between a rock and a hard place (another way of describing a conflict) is a bood thinb not only for the public, but also for the official. 5. Minimum Recluirements The principal difference between a local �overnment ethics code and other ordinances is that an ethics code provides only minimum requirements, that is, states the least that is expected from government officials. Other laws provide maximum requirements. For example, every aspect of a criminal law must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, or there is no crime. Regulations make specific requirements, and no more is expected. There are two reasons for this difference. An ordinance is usually the way the government re�ulates citizens, who are expected to act in their own interest. In contrast, an ethics code is the way the community regulates those who serve the community in the local government. Llnlike ordinary citizens, those �vho agree to serve the community are not expected to act in their own interest. They are not expected to use their position to help themselves or those with whom they have special relationships. In other words, they have a special, overriding fiduciary duty to the community. If an official finds a loophole in an ethics law, she is not supposed to take advantage of it. Instead, she is supposed to ask an ethics adviser what to do. Llnlike a legal adviser, an ethics advisers doesn't look for loopholes; he looks at how best to deal with situations in the gray area where a rule does not clearly apply, but where the desired conduct might equally threaten the community's trust in its government. The second reason why an ethics code provides only minimum requirements is that while ethics codes are meant to guide officials to act in the public interest, other ordinances are not meant to guide, but to define and limit conduct. Since laws are not designed to provide guidance, the language of an ethics provision is always insufficient. The policies behind an ethics provision must be taken into account. If an ethics code does not make it a violation to participate in a matter involving a close friend (because it is impossible to define "close friend"), that does not mean an official m